Cormac McCarthy

[Btros]

Is anybody else here a fan of McCarthy or read any of his work? The first book of his I read was No Country For Old Men after being blown away by the movie. I read The Road next, before it was made into a movie, and it's now one of my top 5 books of all time. After that I read Blood Meridian (film version coming in 2011), a super violent nihilistic old west epic and it was very difficult to read (it's been described as having "neo-biblical" prose) but it had some of the most beautifully written passages of any book I've read.

Just wondering if anyone else thinks he is one of the best living American novelists.

 

[momoceio]

+1 The Road is an awesome book...so far. I need to finish it still.

 

[Jethro10]

I like no country for old buggers like me ;-)

but I found The road, both book and film totally long drawn out and boring - I nearly never finished it.

Jeff

 

[flowers4u]

Frankly, I've never heard of Cormac McCarthy. But then again I'm not an American, so I'm less familiar with most American authors. Thank you for recommending him. You've managed to arouse my curiosity. I'll look for his books in the local library and see what he's like. By the way, the one American author who I do know is Tom Brown and he is one of my favorite authors. ​

 

[Rooferkev]

Exactly the same for me, no country for old men then the road, loved the darkness in them but now need a break before I read any more of his stuff

 

[Gnomad]

When I first started "The Road" I almost put it down and quit reading it. But it did not take long reading before I could not put it down!

 

[Gmash]

The Road is the only book of his that I have read, but I loved it. It was weird at first because of the way it was written without quotation marks, but once I got used to it,i got sucked in. I also thought the movie was good, even though I read the book first, and usually the movie sucks if you've read the book. If you like this, try The Reapers Are the Angels by Alden Bell. It's a great zombie book written in the same style with one of the best main characters I've read in a long time.

 

[Peter D]

Cormac McCarthy is a great writer. Both of the books you mention are great.

His style is sparse but he can say a lot in few words. He tells you everything you need to know and nothing that you don't, allowing the reader to imagine the scene and truly enter into the story.

Many commentators consider his work worthy of consideration for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

 

[atljatl]

Cormac McCarthy is a great writer. Both of the books you mention are great.

His style is sparse but he can say a lot in few words. He tells you everything you need to know and nothing that you don't, allowing the reader to imagine the scene and truly enter into the story.

Many commentators consider his work worthy of consideration for the Nobel Prize for Literature.

i read 'blood meridian' and 'all the pretty horses'... and, yes, his style can be sparse at times and is a little reminiscent of hemmingway. he is brilliant, uses very vivid imagery for effect and doesn't over-do it, and is a master of writing extremely violent passeges in a beautiful and haunting way. you remind me that i need to go and read him again.

 

[atljatl]

Oh and that is almost a solid year bump off an almost 2 year old thread....smh

 

[Granite1]

I wept when I read The Road. Serious stuff in that one. A father's love is without bounds, I can understand.